Today a Federal Court Judge denied to hear the case ballot committee MI Legalize brought before her. She claimed the case was heard in state court and that the venue was not appropriate. This marks the end of the almost two year campaign. MI Legalize was poised to be the only initiative that qualified for the November ballot. The campaign was a grassroots organization made up of state wide activists, lawyers, and medical cannabis industry members.

Over 250,000 signatures were turned into the state of Michigan on June 1. The controversy is over how long the period of signature collecting would be accepted as valid. MI Legalize attempted to comply with a never used 1986 policy for rebutting old signatures by showing the person was registered to vote before and after the 6 month window. MI Legalize spent a lot time and money collecting data to show that they had rebutted an appropriate amount of signatures.

Many point to political pressure from special interests as a reason the state bureaucracy and governor appointed board of canvassers held up MI Legalize, who had the implicit support of workers with the bureau of elections. The state never even counted the signatures and summarily rejected them less than a week later.

The campaign plans to file another rounds of appeals, but it appears as though there will not be an initiative to legalize Cannabis on our November ballot. The campaign is still seeking donations and support to pay off the rest of their campaign debt and to position themselves in the best spot to support pending Cannabis reform movements. www.milegalize.com

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